Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
If there are any small children in the room, now might be a good time to send them to bed or off on an errand. We can’t guarantee that they’ll sleep a wink tonight after seeing this “Nintendog” poodle with its fur dyed and made up to look like Yoshi from the Super Mario series.
For some reason, giant marine isopods are always popping up in the news in Japan. Earlier this year we learned of the death of the lovingly named “Isopod No.1” at Toba Aquarium, which passed away after going five years without eating. Back in March, lucky diners had a chance to crunch down on the tiny exoskeletons of moderately sized isopods in what was surely a dinner from some twisted aquarium worker’s nightmare.
Now, Japan’s fascination with the giant isopod continues in the form of yet another iPhone case. But this one is just a little more realistic (and a whole lot creepier) because it was made using the carcass of isopod No.1 as a model.
On more than one occasion, when the family would settle down for a nice bowl of grapes, I would do as usual and pop one in my mouth. Almost assuredly my wife’s face would contort into a grimace that would make you think I just licked a dog’s butt. This would soon be followed by a lecture on how the pesticides used on it seep into the skin and cannot be washed off along with pleas to stop this barbaric act.
However, I figured if I haven’t died or gotten so much as a tummy ache thus far, it’s probably okay. Nevertheless, every once and a while my wife would try to slip me a peeled grape to convert me, only to have my face contort into the shape of having licked a dogs butt.
The whole point of all this dog-butt talk is that my wife is not at all alone among Japanese people who refuse to eat the skins of certain fruits. However, in recent years, this trend has been changing according to a survey by Tropicana Japan and Dr. “Fruit” Motohashi.
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The artist who created a super-helpful explainer on the differences among England, the UK, and the British Isles is back, this time with a primer on China.
If you’ve ever traveled from Macau to Hong Kong to mainland China, you’ll notice that your passport gets stamped every time. Each one has its own government, money, police force, schools, and even languages.
But Hong Kong and Macau are not their own countries, despite the fact that Hong Kong had its own team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Check out the video below for the quick, correct, and funny explainer, which will make you feel a lot more confident about any future Macau, Hong Kong, or China references.
Many critics and fans credit the success of hit anime Evangelion to the way in which the franchise realistically examines the psychological effects of one of Japanese animation’s standard plot setups, in which a teenage boy must pilot a giant robot to save the world from alien attackers. To its credit, Evangelion does a fine job of answering how the mind of Shinji, its young protagonist, would react to the fear of putting his life on the line, the pressure of acting as humanity’s savior, and the sexual frustration of having the hots for almost every one of the few women he’s had a conversation with, but there’s one question the show’s never dealt with.
How much does Shinji earn?
Any city with aspirations to be a vibrant international metropolis should invest in interesting, challenging and useful public art, and Tokyo has certainly done so. There are some absolutely amazing artworks scattered around our fair city, but there are also some complete abominations lurking as well.
While acknowledging that art is subjective and one person’s favorite piece is another person’s piece of crap, here are what I consider the seven stupidest public artworks in Tokyo.
It’s often said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, which in many ways is true. However, society generally frowns upon the practice of unattached women wandering around town carrying trays of delicious steak in order to attract a mate. When steak isn’t available, though, breasts make a handy substitute for catching a guy’s attention.
Now, a women’s fashion magazine in Japan claims it’s discovered a technique to instantly visually enhance any woman’s bust size, and all it requires is a button-up shirt.
My very first job in Japan was with an established, well-known company that’s one of the top enterprises in its field. The company’s nationwide scale and decades of operations seemed to mark it as sophisticated and experienced enough to appreciate the value of a good employee support system, so I was a little surprised during the training session for new employees when we were told, “If you’re going to take a sick day, you have to tell your manager at least 24 hours in advance.”
The problem is, coming down with the flu isn’t like getting free shipping from Amazon, in that it usually doesn’t take more than a day. Unfortunately, my old employer never taught us how to know we’d be sick two days ahead of time, but another Japanese company has an effective way of sidestepping the issue entirely: never check to see if you have a fever.
You know it’s a cynical sales technique, so you try to be sensible and hold yourself apart, but sometimes commercials really know how to pull the heartstrings. We dare you to watch this spot for a Thai life insurance company and not get a little misty eyed.
In creating the monstrous villains smash-hit manga and anime Attack on Titan, author Hajime Isoyama said that one of the feelings he wanted to convey was the terror of facing an adversary you have no way of communicating with. He hit the mark perfectly, as the Titans’ inability to speak or even meaningfully change their expressions makes them uniquely unnerving foes.
But no matter how big a fan of the series you may be, we human beings, on the other hand, need to be able to talk to one another, which is where this awesome iPhone case, modeled after the swords wielded by Attack on Titans heroes, come into the picture.
It would seem that marketing in Japan is a far cry from the complicated psychological manipulation employed by the ad geniuses of Mad Men. Things, it would seem, are a lot simpler than that for advertising and promotions executives at Japanese firms, ever since someone came upon the brilliant idea of using cutesy anime girls to promote damn near everything.
The huge, innocent eyes and adolescent proportions of the common anime girl apparently trigger something deep in the dark recesses of the brain that makes people lose all rational control, buying up “moe”-promoted goods by the truckload and even making potentially life-endangering decisions like joining the Japan Self Defense Forces.
In a way, small children are scary. Their language skills aren’t fully developed, so you can’t negotiate with them. When they’re angry, their lack of adherence to societal norms means they’re likely to scream at or even bite you. Really, the only thing that keeps them from being paralyzingly frightening is the superior size and strength we have as full-grown adults.
So when we first heard about toddlers practicing judo, which would eventually allow them to use our strength against us, we assumed they must be terrifying. Then we watched this video, and learned that they’re somehow even more adorable as a result of their training in Japanese grappling techniques.
As we’ve said before, Japanese isn’t actually as hard to learn as it’s often made out to be. Unlike English, for example, Japanese follows its own grammatical rules far more rigidly, pronunciation is easy because there is only one variant of each vowel sound to choose from (none of this tomayto/tomahto business), and it’s possible to create entire, perfectly meaningful and valid sentences without uttering a single pronoun or bothering to conjugate a verb.
Nevertheless, the language will not magically seep into you through a desire to speak it alone — you still need to encounter and study it as often as possible. With that in mind, we’d like to present to you the six and a half resources that no dedicated student of the Japanese language should ever be without. Oh, and the good news is some of them are completely free.
Here at RocketNews24 we often cover food whether it’s weird, wonderful, or a waste of money. As such, we often have to take pictures of it. However, since none of us are photographers by trade, we often make do with whatever is lying around, be it iPhone, SLR, or Game Boy Pocket Camera.
We’re not alone either as many a Facebook or Instagram page can be found flooded with images of people’s dinners. However, even though that picture of last night’s pastitsio looks really good to us, how does it actually compare to someone who takes pictures for a living? Has the technology gotten to the point where anyone can make gorgeous food shots, or has it only fueled our own delusions of photographic grandeur? We decided to do a direct comparison using two people and one dish.
A private organization called “GDW Project” opened Twitter account and a Facebook page on Thursday introducing an original anime project from scriptwriter Yu Yamamoto (Mobile Suit Gundam). The anime is related to the J9 anime trilogy, which aired in the early 80’s, and is titled Ginga Jinpū Jinraiger.
The original J9 trilogy included Ginga Senpū Braiger (1981-1982), Ginga Reppū Baxingar (1982-1983), and Ginga Shippū Sasuraiger (1983-1984). Enoki Films licensed the series in English as Cosmo Ranger, Cosmo Runner, and Wonder Six, respectively. Yamamoto wrote the original story for all three.
Japan’s favourite cartoon dog continues his quest for country-wide domination this month with a brand new Snoopy-themed cafe scheduled to open in Oita Prefecture on April 19th. The cafe’s theme fuses Snoopy cartoons and traditional Japanese style, or wa (和). The new venture comes hot on the tails of Snoopy x Japanesque, a collaboration last year that saw the cute line-drawn character from Charles M. Schulz’s comics combined with traditional Japanese artisan works.
Cherry blossom season may now be over in Tokyo, and yes, each year we find ourselves wishing the magnificent pale pink flowers would last longer than a week, but luckily we’ve found a flower-themed video so spectacular, it just might be enough to make us forget the passing of the cherry blossoms.
The video is actually a commercial from Sony advertising their 4K Ultra HD TV, and it features such a massive amount of flowers in an unbelievable array of dazzling colors that you’ll find it hard to believe that the images aren’t computer generated. See the stunning images and colors for yourself in the video below!
When one thinks of exported Japanese food, one tends to imagine sushi, miso, and other dishes that have become so ingrained in the English lexicon that they no longer warrant italics.
One thing you almost definitely don’t consider when thinking about Japanese food is steak. Why would you? Steak is the territory of Western food, often associated specifically with American diners; Which is what makes the New York debut of Ikinari Steak – a Ginza-area chain – so much more surprising.
In Japan, places where people have died are considered bad luck, so unsurprisingly apartments where there has been a suicide, murder, or other death are rented at much cheaper prices than usual due to a lack of demand. However, real estate agencies are seeing a surge in people specifically seeking these kinds of ‘death rooms’. That may sound horribly morbid, but usually it’s not out of a desire to be close to death. Rather, for those who can put aside their culturally-ingrained reservations, it’s a way to save money during tough times.
Reports from Eiga.com News and Bessatsu Shonen Magazine confirm that an exciting new exhibition will open at The Ueno Royal Museum this winter. Fans of the extremely popular manga Attack on Titan will be in for a treat where they can get up and close with some exciting art and other paraphernalia.
Japan announces sudden 500-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Japanese sweets brand creates new drinkable Cigare and we’re totally here for it
Studio Ghibli store Donguri Republic announces opening of first-ever store in America
“Phantom Egg Shop” opens in Japan, with a dozen rare Japanese varieties
Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino, tea and soda drinks for summer
Starbucks Japan sells Valencia Flavoured Syrup, and here are four ways to use it this summer
Cheap Japanese sandwich hack: Popular cafe’s 21-cent white bread offcuts will really up your game
Ginza Happo: One of Tokyo’s best all-you-can-eat seafood restaurants is an extreme buffet affair
Japanese merry-go-round has heartwarming backstory, is one of the best rides in JapanJapanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroadStudio Ghibli store Donguri Republic announces opening of first-ever store in America
Japanese sweets shop sells an ohagi so exquisite it sells out by noon
Forget Tokyo go-karts – there’s a new way to sightsee on four wheels in Japan
7-Eleven Japan to start selling Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches this summerJapan announces sudden 500-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the countryJapanese sweets brand creates new drinkable Cigare and we’re totally here for itStarbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino, tea and soda drinks for summer
Tokyo’s life-size Gundam is getting a new look before its end-of-summer removal
Starbucks Japan releases new limited-edition summer drinks…and a pastry for dunkingJapanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroadStudio Ghibli store Donguri Republic announces opening of first-ever store in America
New Japanese overnight train coming to connect Tokyo with Tohoku in sleep-travel style
Uniqlo reveals third round of massive 100-year-anniversary manga T-shirts for Jump’s Shueisha
Even at twice regular Daiso price, this handy item is still great for summer travel in Japan
New official Ghibli anime food cookbook will teach you how to make Ponyo’s ramen and moreJapanese sweets shop sells an ohagi so exquisite it sells out by noonForget Tokyo go-karts – there’s a new way to sightsee on four wheels in Japan
Japanese convenience store Lawson launches new “mini supermarket” chain, L Minimart
Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino, tea and soda drinks for summer
Starbucks Japan sells Valencia Flavoured Syrup, and here are four ways to use it this summer
Cheap Japanese sandwich hack: Popular cafe’s 21-cent white bread offcuts will really up your game
Ginza Happo: One of Tokyo’s best all-you-can-eat seafood restaurants is an extreme buffet affair
Japanese merry-go-round has heartwarming backstory, is one of the best rides in Japan
Forget Tokyo go-karts – there’s a new way to sightsee on four wheels in Japan
We invent ice slurry somen to combat the extreme Japanese summer heat【SoraKitchen】
Suspected Japanese ice cream cartel under investigation for price-fixing
Japanese sweets shop sells an ohagi so exquisite it sells out by noon
Enjoy the world’s oldest gyoza chain hidden just outside Shinjuku Station
Beat the heat with chilled Iekei ramen from Yokohama Iekei Ramen Ichikakuya
7-Eleven Japan to start selling Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches this summer
7-Eleven Japan vs Family Mart: Who has the biggest convenience store cookie?
100-meter tall Hello Kitty artwork appearing on Japanese Ferris wheel, jumbo Pompompurin nearby